OUTSTANDING WOMEN leaders from Jamaica and Florida will reconnect in Miami from January 12-14 for part two of the Building Bridges Women's Leadership Exchange.
Part one of the exchange took place in Kingston in early November when women from United Way Miami Dade met with their Jamaican counterparts to share ideas about education, health, volunteerism, and philanthropy.
The exchange is the first of a year-long series of events (October 2003 September 2004). The program, properly titled 'Building Bridges: The Jamaica-Florida Connection' is an endeavour of the United States Embassy and Ambassador Sue M. Cobb in association with JAMPRO, the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaican (PSOJ), and the American Chamber of Commerce of Jamaica (AMCHAM).
Ambassador Cobb designed Building Bridges to increase links between people and organisations in her home state of Florida and in Jamaica, the country that has become her 'second home' over the past two years.
FACILITATING CONTACTS
The Ambassador said that, "Building Bridges is an effort to capitalise on our unique geographic proximity by facilitating contacts and working relationships and creating new opportunities that will prove mutually beneficial to both countries for years to come."
Events focusing on areas of mutual interest in economic development, trade, law enforcement, the environment, health, education, and volunteerism have been planned in what the Ambassador predicts will be a unifying 'grassroots' endeavour.
Part two of the Women's Leadership Exchange will continue with expert speakers and group discussions focused on health, education, volunteerism, and philanthropy. Exchange attendees will make field visits to several health and youth organisations, and will participate in a hands-on volunteer project at the YMCA in Allapattah, Florida. The United Way of Jamaica and the United Way of Miami-Dade have collaborated in organising both exchanges, and plan to keep the organisations closely connected for future information exchanges and events.
